Flooding in Iowa, May 31, 2001

Name: Flooding in Iowa, May 31, 2001
Start: 2001-05-31T15:00
End: 2001-05-31T23:59
Location: Iowa

May 31, 2001 · NWS DMX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

The month ended with another wet system on the 30th-31st as low pressure tracked across northern Missouri, with a warm front draped across southern Iowa. 02" at Leon (Decatur county).

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.

The month ended with another wet system on the 30th-31st as low pressure tracked across northern Missouri, with a warm front draped across southern Iowa. Showers and a few embedded thunderstorms brought the heaviest rain to southern counties; Bloomfield in Davis County measured 2.35" for the 24 hours ending at 12Z and Promise City (PRMI4) picked up 2.10"; other substantial totals included 2.15" at the Chariton DCP, 2.03" at the Lamoni ASOS and 2.02" at Leon (Decatur county). The heavy rains drove the Chariton River several feet above flood stage at Chariton (CHTI4). Rains up to around an inch fell as far north as the Des Moines metropolitan area, with a rapid diminution in precipitation totals north of the city. Precipitation continued for much of the day on the 31st, with another 0.50 to 1.00 inch falling over central Iowa from Des Moines south to the Missouri border. Flooding was again restricted to agricultural lands. The Chariton River is quite fast reacting, thus crops that were submerged by the waters were above the river level within a day or so.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 2:25 PM CST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 2:25 PM CST, 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
325 PM CDT THU MAY 31 2001

STARTING TO GET A SMALL HANDLE ON THE PITFALLS OF USING IFPS. NEED
TO TWEAK SOFTWARE MORE. PCPN IS WINDING DOWN AS DEFORMATION ZONE
LIFTS NEWRD OUT OF FA. RUC DOING A FINE JOB ON EVENING TIMING. UP
STREAM S/W PROGRESSING ACRS THE DKTAS WITH SML CONVECTION. THE
PARALLEL 10KM ETA RUN FM YDA HAD SML BUT DECENT PCPN AREA ALG THE MO
RVR VLY TNGT...WITH LIGHTER SHWRS EWD. WL CONT THAT THINKING WITH
SML POPS. THE MESOETA HAS A NICE THERMAL BNDRY (WALL IN FACT) N/S
ACRS WRN IA TO PRODUCE ISENT LIFT AS WRMR AIR ARRIVES FM THE W TNGT.
SHOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT EVOVLES. AS THE BOWLING BALL
SETTLES TWDS FA TMR...UPR JET ENHANCES CNSDRBLY TO OVR 100KTS WITH
LF QUAD OVR IA. UPR DIVERGENCE INCRS THRU THE AFTN AND
EVENING...HENCE TSTMS BACK IN THE FORECAST FOR MNLY SRN HALF. CLDS
MORE SO NRN IA SAT WITH PC S AND NO PCPN. WX DETORIATES LATE ON SUN
INTO MON WITH NXT SGFNT WAVE. STOPPED PCPN ERLY ON TUE WITH DRY WX
WED/THU. MOS TMPS GENERALLY ACCEPTED WITH UPWRD ADJS TO TNGT LOWS A
BIT.

.DSM...NONE
MYERS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Clarke

When: May 31, 3:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Clarke forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.029, -93.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Decatur

When: May 31, 3:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Decatur forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.738, -93.786 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Lucas

When: May 31, 3:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Lucas forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.029, -93.328 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Wayne

When: May 31, 3:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where: Wayne forecast zone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 40.740, -93.327 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, May 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5242637, 5242638, 5242639, 5242640.